Keeping aquarium plants
Don't be afraid to buy aquarium plants online
I've got excellent experience with Drs. Foster & Smith's LiveAquaria.com.
Advantages:
- They have got great plant packs - 100% Compatibility of plants
- Safe shipping system
- I received perfectly grown and healthy plants
- Less expensive than in pet stores
Try this or packs for other sizes:
PL - Aquarium Plant Pack - Standard (30 gal.)
Importance of aquarium plants
Live plants are very important part of our aquarium. Growing aquarium plants aren't good only because of planted fish tank looks great. They are necessary for health of our fishes. They provide them shelters. This reduces fish stress. Plants significantly improve the quality of water. Aquatic plants produce oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide and fish wastes. Aquarium plants can also help you in fight with algae because they absorb nutrients, which are imporant for algae too. Now you know how important plants are. So forget about plastic aquarium plants and get live ones. Growing live aquarium plants isn't that difficult if you know a few basics.
Aquarium plant needs
Just like fishes, aquarium plants have got their requirements. Choose plant species carefully and mak sure they meet your conditions in your fish tank. Most important thing for planted aquarium is to provide adequate aquarium lighting for plants. Which means proper intensity and spectrum of light. Usually recommended values for most plants are 2 Watts per gallon of water and 10 to 12 hours with lights on. Aquarium plant bulbs should provide full spectrum or you can pick some specialized tubes emitting light with red spectrum. Pick some low light aquarium plants or moderate at the beginning. As for filtration avoid using undergravel filter which is completely unsuitable for aquarium with plants. Aquarium plant substrate should have granularity of 1-3 mm. The easiest way is to buy specialized plant substrates online. Different plants require different pH, so consider that when picking plant species. Some fishes can eat leaves of our aquatic plants or dig in the substrate. Avoid those.
Tips for plants
Maintenance of fish tank with aquatic plants isn't difficult. Make sure there isn't too much floating aquarium plants, so plants at the bottom of aquarium can get enough light. Remove dead leaves. Regularly add aquarium plant fertilizer according to the instructions on the bottle. Miracles with aquarium plants can make adding CO2 in aquarium. More about CO2 and aquarium plants will be written later. Water changes are very important. Every week change about 10% of water. Important part is to pick compatible plants. If you don't want to spend too much time with picking them, the easiest way will be to buy aquarium plants online. Many internet shops offer aquatic plant packs containig only compatible species with different amount according to size of fish tank.
